The present invention relates generally to a label that may be applied to a vial, bottle, or other container having a closure, which may be described as a cap or a top. The combination of the container and closure can be described as a closure container assembly or system and the closure and container assembly are designed to store and dispense materials, particularly pharmaceuticals. The label is specifically design to allow a user to have options as to the size of the label positioned on the container in such a manner as to relay information, such as information concerning the medicine or advertising, to a person that subsequently uses the container enclosure system. The label is also specifically design to facilitate minimization of the label and its substrate as the label and its substrate are produced while providing the label in a user friendly and at least partially automated format.
There are many types of closure systems described in the art. For example there are closures that are child resistant, closures that are non child resistant, and closures that are convertible from child resistant to non child resistant, from non child resistant to child resistant, or convertible between the two modes multiple times. Most of the technology in this field has been directed at improving the container and/or closure, or the interface between the container and closure.
Very little advancement has been directed towards the labeling or information provided with the pharmaceuticals or the labeling attached to the container. Typically this labeling is oriented such that the lines of alphanumeric characters are substantially perpendicular to the axis of a container. This can pose a problem for a user of the container in the reading of the information contained on the label.
Additionally, prior art labels are usually printed in a single size in order to simplify inventory and procedures at the pharmacies. As a result, the label sizes are designed for the smallest containers, which leave a majority of the circumferential space unused on larger containers that use the smaller labels. This can result in the use of smaller sized font than necessary which can be hard to read.
For example, typically the smaller containers have small diameters such that words having anything but more than a few letters require the holder of the container to rotate the container about its axis in order to be able to read the information contained thereon. This is especially cumbersome given the multiple characters and/or letters that comprise most medicines, which can be upwards of 15-20 letters long. Additionally, since these smaller sized labels and fonts are generally used on the larger containers, the information contained thereon is still hard to read even given the larger diameters of the larger containers. Any warnings on the labels in the form of sentences or small paragraphs require multiple turns and/or rotations of the container in order for a user to be able to read that information or are in a smaller font than necessary. This can be annoying and troublesome to the user and does not facilitate an ease of information transfer from a label to the user of a container.
Another factor in the application of the labeling to the containers is the need for an ergonomic label design with respect to the containers and an ergonomic process for the actual selection of the labels by the user, such as a pharmacist, and placement of those label by the same on the containers
Up until this point the space on a pharmaceutical container, namely the label or labels positioned thereon, have been used to provide information concerning the pharmaceuticals contained therein including the dosage warnings and other pertinent information. Portions of this space have been unused or at least under utilized.
In light of the foregoing there is a need for revised labeling on a pharmaceutical container. The revised labeling preferably maximizes the readability of the information, medical or otherwise, positioned on the pharmaceutical container such that a reader of that information can readily read, ascertain and comprehend the information. The revised labeling preferably minimizes any procedures for the placement of that labeling on the containers. This needed labeling is lacking in the art.